School board superintendent Jan Unwin announces retirement

Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school district superintendent Jan Unwin has announced this will be her last year on the job.

Unwin said she will retire before November 2014.

“I have been at the board office for eight years now, with five of those years as superintendent, and feel great about what we have achieved as a district,” said Unwin in a press release,

“I believe this is a good time for me to leave and let the district get a new voice.”

Although Unwin does not have a firm date for her retirement, her intention is to retire before next year’s school board trustee elections.

“The selection of my successor would be a difficult task for a new board to take on, so the timing is right,” Unwin said.

During Unwin’s term as superintendent, the district has been known for pioneering initiatives, including the Environmental School, Cyberschool, iPod Literacy Project and the removal of required letter grades on report cards.

“I love this district and the people in it. This decision has been extremely difficult to come to but I know it’s the right decision at the right time,” Unwin says. “I know that I still have more to give on the education front, but I think it is time to move on to something else.”